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UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen results and post-fight analysis

If Fox Sports 1 and the UFC were hoping for a memorable launch night, they got it with UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen. The card was among the most entertaining top-to-bottom in UFC history, featuring amazing performances, great finishes, massive upsets and tremendous action.

Topping the list of the unexpected was Chael Sonnen beating Mauricio Rua in the night's main event. The unexpected wasn't a Sonnen win -- he was only a small underdog -- it was the way he did it. He quickly scored a takedown, Shogun got up and got a takedown of his own, but he never disengaged from the wrestling game Sonnen wanted to play, getting taken down again and eventually submitted via a guillotine.

Sonnen isn't supposed to submit a guy like Rua, he's supposed to grind him down over the full fight.

I don't know what else to say about it really. Shogun had no real chance to get anything done, he was simply not ready for the way this fight went down, all too comfortable engaging in a wrestling battle he couldn't win.

Sonnen then called out Wanderlei Silva, but I'd much rather see Sonnen face Vitor Belfort in a bout with so much TRT that it can only possibly be held on a barge in international waters.

•Alistair Overeem simply lacks something that he needs to be the fighter he is supposed to be. He has the physical tools to be the best heavyweight in the world, but he doesn't seem to have the head to protect himself against dangerous heavyweights. He stops defending himself and gets blasted, it has happened twice now with Travis Browne front kicking him and finishing him with strikes on the ground.

•The Browne loss actually makes Overeem one of the biggest busts in UFC history. He had some really questionable drug test stuff happen before he fought Brock Lesnar, then he beat that shell of Lesnar, then failed a drug test, came back to get KO'ed by Bigfoot Silva and now was KO'ed by Travis Browne. Overeem was supposed to be a PPV draw, long-time heavyweight champion/contender, not a guy who legitimately should not even sniff the top 10.

•Urijah Faber is an incredible success story. He was champion for an extended time and despite losing the title and aging (something that tends to take a bigger toll on smaller fighters) he still is clearly one of the absolute best fighters in the world in his division. He might never have another title run, but he's not going away any time soon. It looked bad at the start of his bout with Yuri Alcantara, getting thrown and mounted, but he survived and then wore Alcantara out, dominating the second and third.

•Matt Brown is on an incredible run. He has won six fights in a row, at least four of them over legitimate "tough opposition" including tonight's brutal knockout of Mike Pyle. Brown has been one of the most consistently entertaining fighters in the UFC for years and now he's on a somewhat shocking run that has him legitimately able to be talked about as a title challenger.
•Fun fact: the six fighters Brown has beat on this streak have a combined record in their last four fights of 18-6.

•Uriah Hall was booed again and lost on top of it. The fight was not exactly exciting and the two engaged in a weird crowd hype/high five segment with half a minute left in a fight that was clearly going to be close on the scorecards. it led to Dana White tweeting that it was horrible and "high five fight of the night! WTF!" I guess the UFC's brief love affair with Hall as the future of the division is over.

•Michael Johnson has finally delivered on the talk of him as a monster in the gym. Over the past year he has finally looked comfortable in the cage and his striking has taken massive jumps forward. He thrashed Joe Lauzon tonight. To the point where people decided Lauzon had to be sick or injured. No doubt Lauzon's history of brutally tough fights may have caught up to him, but Johnson was crisp, quick and accurate. He also threw in combination with regularity.

•Michael McDonald put on one of the most impressive fights in recent memory against Brad Pickett. Pickett is no joke and McDonald beat him up from the opening bell until locking in the triangle that finished the fight. McDonald is only 22 years old, he's had a title shot but he has so much upside that it's hard to not get excited thinking about how good he could be in a few years.

•Speaking of upside, Conor McGregor shut up some of his doubters tonight, really dominating Max Holloway. McGregor thought he hurt his knee during the fight so he stopped his aggressive striking game and just wrestled his way to the win. The skills he showed on the ground made it seem that he has been addressing the one big question about his game. He has a ton of hype behind him, but I hope that doesn't mean that they rush him to fights he isn't ready for. If given time he might develop into the force they're hoping.

•Again, this was one of the best nights of fights in UFC history and there's no way to consider it anything other than a success. The ratings will be interesting when they come in, but the fighters did their part to provide an exciting experience for the viewer.

Overreem made the same mistake Riddick Bowe made against George Foreman after dominating him for 12 rounds, he relaxed and stayed within the wrong distance to relax. Foreman was able to land the "miracle one two" and become champ. Browne sort of did the same thing with that kick. He kicked to the outside a lot making overreem guard against kicks from those angles, and after the brutal assault overreem put on him early in the round, I think reem thought he could coast a bit and take a break. He made the same mistake Bowe made. He failed to get all the way in or stay all the way out when not engaging. He lingered in the danger zone and paid for it. Now if this was boxing, he would have been fine, because his opponent would have had to step toward him in order to land a punch, but in MMA kicks cover greater distance especially for tall fighters. Another thing Overreem seems to lack is concentration, look at guys like Conner Mcgreggor who put on an amazing show that night. As cocky as Conner was, he was also very focused and paid careful attention to every detail. He saw where every shot was coming from and when he wasn't engaging he was at a safe distance to rest. I'm not sure how you can really teach that to some guys. Overreem's success in K-1 might have actually been the worst thing that happened to him. Maybe he started to ignore some of the basics and believed that no fighter could stand with him. Thus become complacent and not respecting the "danger zone". At any rate I think Overreem could probably win rematches against big foot and Browne, that's the most frustrating thing about "the reem". Is that he IS more talented than those guys, but his laziness and lack of focus costs him.

"I don't call the fighting in my films 'violent', I call it 'action'. An action film borders between fantasy and reality. If I were to be completely realistic in my films, you would call me a violent, bloody man. I would simply destroy my opponent by tearing his guts out. I wouldn't do it so artistically." ~Bruce Lee

Overreem's success in K-1 might have actually been the worst thing that happened to him. Maybe he started to ignore some of the basics and believed that no fighter could stand with him. Thus become complacent and not respecting the "danger zone". At any rate I think Overreem could probably win rematches against big foot and Browne, that's the most frustrating thing about "the reem". Is that he IS more talented than those guys, but his laziness and lack of focus costs him.

Overeem leaving golden glory was the worst thing that happened to him. Golden glory built him up to the success he had in k1 and mma and then he pooped on them and left. Now has been getting knocked out left and right.

I do want Overeem to do well, though. He needs to get his shit together, he's resorting back to his younger days where he would do well in fights and then suddenly find a way to lose.

yeah i totally thought t he ref was stopping the reem browne fight...but i guess it was good he didnt as browne recovered. Super excited that chael got the W and i really think he has his way with wandy....Hope wandys wife didnt let em bet that 100gs ha

I didn't mind the ref not stopping the fight, there was never a moment were Browne wasn't scrambling or defending himself. I'm still a little put off by the fact that the illegal knee Overeem threw was unnoticed but the rest of the fight is fine. Not a huge Browne fan still but there's nothing wrong with that win.

As Ron White said you can't fix stupid and that seems to be AO's problem. He clearly had that fight in hand and gave it away, but credit to Browne for surviving. Not sure what to think of Rua was he that bad or Sonnen that good that night?

UFC Fight Night 26 drew an attendance of 12,539 for a live gate of $1.53 million

Betting favorites went 7-6 on the card.

Total fight time for the 13-bout card was 1:52:02.

MAIN CARD

Sonnen earned his first victory in the light-heavyweight division since July 2005.

Sonnen attempted two submissions against Rua, the most ever in his UFC/WEC career.

Rua is on the first two-fight losing streak of his 29-bout career and has lost four of his past six fights overall.

Rua suffered his first submission defeat since Sept. 22, 2007 – a span of 2,157 days (nearly six years) and 10 fights. The loss at the 4:47 mark of Round 1 was the second shortest defeat of Rua's career.

Travis Browne defeated Alistair Overeem by knockout despite a 27-strike deficit in significant strikes landed (14 to 41), the fourth largest deficit for a heavyweight comeback in UFC history. "Hapa" has earned 13 of his 15 pro victories by knockout or submission.

Overeem has lost consecutive fights for the first time since 2006 and has been knocked out in eight of his 13 professional defeats.

Urijah Faber kept intact his record of never losing a non-title bout by defeating Yuri Alcantara.

Alcantara suffered his first defeat since dropping to the bantamweight division.

Matt Brown extended his career-best winning streak to six and is now tied with Johny Hendricks for the second longest winning streak in the welterweight division behind champion Georges St-Pierre (11).

Brown earned his eighth knockout victory under the UFC banner, extending his record for the most knockout finishes in welterweight history. "The Immortal" has defeated his past four opponents by knockout.

Mike Pyle has been finished by knockout or submission in eight of his nine professional defeats.

John Howard earned his first UFC victory since March 21, 2010 – a span of 1,245 days (more than three years) and 11 professional fights.

Joe Lauzon fought to a decision for just the third time in his 31-fight career.

PRELIMINARY CARD

Michael McDonald landed two knockdowns against Brad Pickett, which ties him with Eddie Wineland for the most knockdowns in UFC/WEC bantamweight history at six.

McDonald earned his first submission victory since Nov. 11, 2010 – a span of 1,010 days (nearly three years) and six fights. "Mayday" has earned 14 of his 16 career victories by knockout or submission.

Brad Pickett has won a post-fight bonus in five of his six UFC fights for a total of $270,000.

Conor McGregor fought to and won a decision for the first time in his 16-fight career. His previous longest fight lasted nine minutes and 10 seconds.

Steven Siler's 50-second knockout of Mike Brown is tied for the fifth fastest knockout in UFC/WEC featherweight history. "Super" earned his first knockout victory since Aug. 25, 2007 – a span of 2,184 days (nearly six years) and 18 fights.

Diego Brandao completed eight takedowns against Daniel Pineda, twice as many as his previous four UFC fights combined.

Daniel Pineda fell to 3-3 inside the octagon and has lost three of his past four UFC fights.

Manny Gamburyan is on his first two-fight winning streak since 2009.

Gamburyan landed five takedowns against Cole Miller, tying him with Brown for the most takedowns in UFC/WEC featherweight history at 25.

James Vick's 58-second submission of Ramsey Nijem was the second fastest in history for a debuting UFC lightweight. Charles Oliveira's 41-second tap-out of Darren Elkins at UFC on Versus 2 leads the category. Vick has finished his opponent by knockout or submission in all but one of his professional wins.

Ramsey Nijem was defeated by submission for the first time since Oct. 24, 2009 – a span of 1,393 days (nearly four years) and nine fights.

I didn't mind the ref not stopping the fight, there was never a moment were Browne wasn't scrambling or defending himself. I'm still a little put off by the fact that the illegal knee Overeem threw was unnoticed but the rest of the fight is fine. Not a huge Browne fan still but there's nothing wrong with that win.

I'm conflicted about it. I think more often then not it would have been stopped. I'd be ok with it if it were more consistent.